Firefighter found guilty of raping woman during St Patrick's Day celebrations

Irish firefighter Terence Crosbie has been found guilty of rape at Suffolk Superior Court in Boston.

The 39 year old was charged with raping a 29 year old woman during St Patrick's Day celebrations in March 2024. After more than 15 hours of deliberations, the verdict was reached and he is due to be sentenced on 30 October.

As the verdict was read out, Crosbie's family and friends, who were seated in the front row of the gallery, broke down in tears and hid their faces in their hands after the five-day trial at Suffolk Superior Court, reports Irish Star.

Crosbie was arrested from an Aer Lingus flight just hours after being interviewed by detectives from the Boston Police Department. The court heard that Crosbie had booked a 10:10 pm Aer Lingus flight to Dublin on 16 March 2024, after his police interview.

Upon arriving at Logan Airport, Crosbie found an earlier flight to Dublin at 6:30 pm that evening, which hadn't been listed online, and he switched to the earlier departure. The court was shown body camera footage taken by a Massachusetts State Police Sergeant, which showed Crosbie being led off the Aer Lingus flight.

Crosbie was in Boston with a group of Dublin firefighters for the St Patrick's Day parade. His victim recounted meeting Crosbie's hotel roommate, Liam O'Brien, at the Black Rose pub on the night of the incident.

She told the jury that they chatted, danced and even shared a kiss. She further revealed that they left the pub together and returned to the Omni Parker House hotel in Boston. The woman testified that upon their return to the hotel, no one else was present in the room. They had unprotected sex, after which she went to the bathroom.

She stated that O'Brien fell asleep. She remembered falling asleep on a separate bed from O'Brien and waking up to another man, "also with an Irish accent," raping her. She was certain that her alleged attacker was not O'Brien, with whom she had previously had sex, stating, "I knew it wasn't Liam because he was still asleep."

After leaving the Omni Parker House hotel, the alleged victim sent three text messages to her friend and coworker, who had accompanied her for most of the afternoon and evening at the work event and later at the Black Rose pub.

In the early hours, she sent a text saying, " I hate everyone," swiftly followed by another message stating, "What the f--- is wrong with people?" A third chilling message read, "I woke up and a guy was inside of me telling me how much he knew I wanted it and how pathetic it was his friend couldn't give that."

The victim reported that she went to Massachusetts General Hospital, where she alleged she had been raped.

Crosbie fiercely denied all allegations against him, insisting he "absolutely did not" rape the woman. In his court testimony, he mentioned meeting the complainant "very briefly, in passing," and confessed he "didn't get her name."

He claimed that he was in the hotel room when O'Brien returned with the woman, but he immediately left. Video footage from the pub, the street, and the hotel on the night in question was shown in court.

Hotel CCTV showed Crosbie sitting in an open area next to the sixth-floor lifts for nearly two hours. After this, he said he went back to the room, assuming that O'Brien and the woman had finished their intimate encounter.

"I opened the door and I called out, I didn't go straight into the room," Crosbie told the court. "There was no reply, the room was dark... I used the flashlight on my phone to find my way to my bed... Shone the light on the floor to give myself a pathway to my bed."

Crosbie gave evidence that he was in bed for "maybe a minute and a half or so," before he heard someone getting up from the other bed, which he now believes was the alleged victim. During cross-examination, the prosecution asked if Crosbie had looked up to see the woman leaving, to which he replied, "I didn't try. I couldn't, it was too dark."

Throughout the trial, several DNA experts gave evidence that none of the swabs taken from the victim's body contained identifiable traces of Crosbie's DNA. Alexis Decesaris, a senior DNA analyst at Bodie Technology, gave evidence that whilst two male contributors were identified in the DNA found on the accuser, there was no confirmation that Crosbie was one of them.

The jury of six men and six women found Crosbie guilty of raping the 29-year-old woman. Crosbie will be sentenced on October 30.